


Safe Here

by AshaHawke



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bathing/Washing, Comfort Sex, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Healing Sex, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Lesbian Sex, Oral Sex, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Rescue, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 20:10:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11790567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshaHawke/pseuds/AshaHawke
Summary: Yara Greyjoy has been held prisoner by Euron and horribly tortured. Daenerys Targaryen rescues her with fire and blood; then she bathes her, tends to her wounds, and makes her feel better in a variety of sensuous ways.





	Safe Here

**Author's Note:**

> I was really surprised (and disappointed) that there weren't more fics in the fandom about Yara's fate with Euron, or about any hurt/comfort that took place after she'd been rescued from that fate.  
> So here goes.
> 
> Please let me know if you can think of any major tags that I missed, and I'll edit the tags to include them.  
> Also, the smut in this isn't as wonderfully detailed as some other smut stories I've read. The focus here is more on the emotional comfort aspect, but I did try to deliver.

Yara closed her eyes and let her battered body sink into the soft sheets. It all felt surreal--the adrenaline of riding on Drogon; the blasts of flame that had scorched Euron and his ship to the ground; the look on her uncle's face right before he died, when he saw that the Dragon Queen had personally flown in to save her.

Her neck and shoulders bore an ache that drilled down to her spine, heavy with the iron collar that her uncle had forced her to wear. Her back raw with uncountable whip lashes. In the next room, Daenerys was running a bath. Yara knew she needed one. Her torn rags stuck to her skin with weeks' worth of blood and sweat and other grime. With the evidence of what Euron had done. She was amazed that Daenerys had allowed her to set foot inside her bedroom, let alone wait on the bedsheets.

The bed was so soft, and the relief of safety was so embracing, that reality began to feel hazy around her. Soon she felt a gentle lull, as if she was at home within the sea. Frenzied thoughts gave way to dreams of dragons, of justice, of flying.

A warm hand gently shook her shoulder.

Yara bolted awake, ready for war. She groped for her axe. It was gone. She opened her mouth, searching for the right defense, but a pathetic whimper came out instead and she wished the sea could swallow her alive.

"It's all right," whispered Dany. "You're back with your allies now. Back with me. Let's get you taken care of."

Yara held still for a moment and allowed her memories to settle. Dany truly was here, and that meant that Euron wasn't. Yara remembered fire. She remembered being unchained and led to sit on Drogon's back, and how invincible she had felt as they flew up toward the clouds and left the burning ships of her misery behind them.

"Was all that real?" Speaking proved to be difficult. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

Dany held a flask of water to her cracked lips. Yara reached up, struggling with her injured hands to hold the drink herself. She downed the flask in two seconds.

She opened her mouth again, meaning to thank Dany. But her throat felt too heavy, and she realized she was about to cry. To break down and sob like she hadn't done since she was an infant. So she clamped her mouth shut and reached out toward Dany, leaning her head in, a silent gesture of gratitude and a pledge to serve Dany always.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she was powerless to stop them. Ironborn did not bow. Ironborn did not submit. And they certainly did not weep. Who the fuck was she now? What had that bastard Euron forced her to become?

Dany leaned down and wrapped both arms around Yara, pulling her into a secure hug. Those arms were so different from Yara's own. Strong but soft, unscarred, beautiful. 

When the hug ended, Dany carefully pushed Yara upright, so her back was straight and her head was held high.

"You are the Queen of the Iron Isles." Dany's eyes, deep and blue like something ethereal, locked with Yara's in a way that seared into the rawest part of her soul. "You are the rightful leader of the ones who do not sow. No amount of tears can undermine your strengh or lessen the fact that you are made of iron. No degree of torture or rape, no chains you're forced to wear, can chip away at the formidable ruler you are."

Yara stayed still. Kept looking into those blue goddess eyes. Looking away might unravel her.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Dany put a hand on Yara's shoulder. "Come on now."

Yara wordlessly followed Dany into the washroom. She was dazy and somewhat delirious, having spent almost a month chained and starved with hardly any sleep. Why was Dany doing this for her? They had established a political alliance, and shared a few moments of warmth, but Dany had never called her a friend. Here in this place, in this room with the golden sheets and the luxurious washroom, Yara felt like an outsider who didn't belong. Like an intruder who could be thrown overboard at any moment.

"Would you like me to leave you alone now?" Dany asked, "Or do you need help?"

Yara glanced at the bath. Beneath the fragrant bubbles, it was deep, deep enough that she could sink and drown if the exhaustion knocked her out. She closed her eyes and thought of the hug. Of how safe it had made her feel. Of how starved she was for those hands that gave her rest, those words that gave her fire. 

"You could stay." Yara channeled all the strength of the Ironborn to not plead. "If you wanted. I wouldn't mind the company."

"Of course." Dany's demeanor stayed warm and gentle as she helped Yara ease her clothes off. They were once her best battle clothes, but after wearing them for a month straight they'd grown ragged. In the darkest, dampest parts of Euron's ship, they had begun to mold. 

"We ought to just burn these," Dany commented. "I have some new things that would fit you."

Yara numbly looked down at herself as each piece's removal revealed more of her scars. Deep, jagged whip lashes cut across her back and her front. Burns scattered her body from where heated irons had dug into her skin. Hideous bruises left her flesh a swollen mess of purple and green. More marks from more tortures--some had been blocked away, trapped inside the deepest caves of her mind. Except at night when they woke her screaming.

Dany ran a careful finger across Yara's ribs. The bones had begun to show, and evidence of Euron's torments littered her skin. Yara cast her eyes down. A month ago, she would have never been meek in a situation that invovled the great dragon queen Daenerys touching her bare chest. She would have been full of bravado and conquest and tongues and teeth. But now, her body was a sorry sight and she knew it. And she barely had the energy to remain standing, let alone to behave like the strong woman she used to be.

Dany steered Yara over to the tub and helped her sit down at its edge. She scrubbed the worst of the dried gore from her body before easing her down into the water.

Yara realized that she was leaking tears again. She ducked her head in the water to hide them.

Dany filled her hands with shampoo and soothingly worked out the knots in Yara's hair. She fetched a comb and brushed the light brown locks until they were smooth again. Then she got a clean washcloth and cleaned Yara's face. Yara leaned forward into the touch. She had never been nurtured like this. A part of her wanted the moment to never end. Dany was meticulous in her face-washing, and even cleaned Yara's mouth with a fresh cloth doused in mint leaves. She continued to wash Yara's body, using extra care in the places where the bruising was worst. 

All too soon, Dany tugged at Yara's arm and motioned for her to rise. Yara murmured in protest. She pried her weary eyes open--the bathwater was black-red with all her dried blood.

She stood up and watched, trembling violently, as her blood slowly sank down the drain. If blood was the source of life, then perhaps her life too was gone. Perhaps Euron had taken her strength after all, and damaged her to the point where it could never return.

Dany filled the tub with fresh water and let Yara sink back into it for a second bath. This time, the water was still mostly clear when she allowed herself to be pulled out of it. Dany sat her on the tub's ledge and wrapped a thick towel around her. The towel was large enough to cover Yara completely, like a robe. Yara held it around herself and stared at the floor, not sure what to do with herself in a place like this. She was so far from her old self. So far from any sense of having a self at all.

Dany sat on the tub next to her. "You do feel safe here, don't you?"

Yara twitched with a pang of guilt. Had she somehow indicated otherwise? "Yes, your grace. Of course. Thank you."

Dany smiled. "No more 'your grace' from you, please. Just Dany. You're my friend, and a good one at that."

Yara studied her face for a hidden motive. She didn't see one.

"You have my loyalty for life," she started, "And the unfaltering allegiance of House Greyjoy. Always. Aside from that, I--I don't know how I can possibly begin to repay you, and--"

"Hush." Dany's whisper was kind but stern, and Yara stopped in her tracks.

"Do not begin to lessen yourself before me," Dany ordered. "I'm the one who looks up to you, not just the other way around. I saved you because I wanted to. Because I couldn't envision the Seven Kingdoms as being a place I'd want to rule over, if you were suddenly no longer in them."

Yara snorted despite herself. "You're saying you want to rule over me?"

Dany smiled. "I'm saying I want to do lots of things with you. If you agree, that is. If not, simply say so. It goes without saying that you rule your own body, now and always, and I will burn to the ground anyone who tries to take that sovereignty away from you."

"I saw that last night." Yara edged closer to Dany, hoping to soak up more of that radiant aura.

"I know you prefer the ways of women," said Dany, "and I have interest in that area myself. My handmaidens and I had some very pleasurable moments during my time with the Dothraki, you know."

Yara felt her face slowly turn red. Her exhaustion faded as a new surge of energy took hold. "Interesting."

"I know you've had a rough time, and please don't feel pressured or like you have to repay me," said Dany. "This is just an offer, if you're in the mood, and it's all right if you aren't. But I was thinking I could...maybe..." Dany quirked up a suggestive eyebrow. "Relax you a bit. You understand? On the bed."

Yara grinned. For a glorious moment she felt like an Ironborn conqueror again, and she thought that maybe she hadn't been extinguished after all. Then she looked down at her bruises and welts in the places not hidden by the towel, and insecurity came creeping in like ship rot.

"You don't think I'm disgusting?"

Dany's eyes flew wide open with shock. "Disgusting? You? Those are two words that certainly don't go together."

The words were a healing salve to Yara's injured pride. "Well. I must say I'm glad to hear that. And I'm tempted by your offer, but be warned, I don't have the usual stamina and I'd hate to leave a bad impression on--"

Dany leaned in closer and silenced Yara with a kiss. Then she pulled away and whispered into her ear. "Don't worry about that. Right now, tonight, I just want to take care of you."

Yara swallowed. "I won't deny my queen's wants. Especially not that one."

Dany took both of Yara's hands in her own and lifted her up to stand. The towel fell away, but neither of them cared about its absence. 

Dany led Yara back into the bedroom. She eased her to recline on the pillows, and retrieved a jar of blue gel. "This is a special healing balm from Valyria," she said. "It will take away the pain, disinfect the wounds, and help you heal quickly."

Yara let herself relax as Dany worked the healing gel into her skin. She started with the cuts on her feet, and slowly worked her way up, massaging the balm into every inch of flesh whether it bore a cut or not. Yara almost cried again, this time with relief. For the first time in an ocean of eternities, her body didn't hurt. The soreness of the whips and the beatings and the rapes and the iron chain were gone, and a pleasant lightness was all that remained.

Dany kissed her deeply on the mouth. "That was just part of the beginning," she murmured. "Now we're on to the real fun."

Yara hummed with pleasure as Dany kissed, bit and licked down her jawline and into the crooks of her neck and collarbone. By the time Dany reached her nipples, they were already stiff.

"I see it's not too hard to get you worked up," Dany teased.

Yara panted, eager for more affection. "Don't stop."

Dany pinched a nipple in one hand, and took the other one into her mouth. Yara arced her back and cried out. Dany licked and sucked gently, tugging just enough to make Yara writhe properly, but taking special care not to cause her any pain. After a few minutes, Yara's moans and twitches built to a peak, and then she shuddered all over and her body relaxed.

"Well." Dany rewarded her with a kiss. "That didn't take long."

Yara threaded her fingers through Dany's hair. "Don't stop."

"I never would wish to do such a thing." Dany traded her fingers and her mouth to work the same ministrations on Yara's other breast, until she came a second time. Then she worked her way lower, swirling her tongue into Yara's navel and planting sensual kisses along the sensitive areas just above her pelvic bones.

When she came a third time, Dany moved lower, planting a trail of hickeys along both sides of Yara's inner sides. When Yara's whimpers began to sound desperate, she pushed her legs apart and worked her carefully with her tongue, alternating different types of licks and movements and pressure, until the Queen of the Iron Isles fell apart for the final time and lay still, exhauted.

Dany climbed up her lover's body and planted kisses on both of her eyelids. "You're safe here. You're safe with me. Always."

Yara murmred happily, too tired to speak but so grateful for this love that she had never known how to receive. Had never known until Dany showed her.

Dany kissed her again, this time on the mouth. She positioned them so that Dany lay on her side, with Yara also on her side curled up against her, with Yara's back pressed against Dany's chest and Dany's arm wrapped protectively around her.

"I love you," Dany said into her ear, and Yara nuzzled against her before they fell deeply asleep.


End file.
